Could my meter be wired up wrong?

[sanasanasana]

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Thanks all for your helpful responses, I'm glad i came to the right place because I did not get concise, correct answers from other places you've all been very helpful.

I've done the maths(inspired by James) and it turns out that indeed without using any additional appliances (besides those like fridge/freezer, chargers, bulbs & lamps running), my "standby" consumption is about 14kWh per day. With the Potterton 12kW running even for one hour, this makes my consumption go upto a total of 26kWh and with the 27p/hr charge I'm looking at £7.62 including standing charge.
The electric boiler is the horrendous deal breaker here; i think I'd be better off using my 2kW fan blowers for longer durations instead. Lesson learnt the hard way.
The outstanding problem now is the night meter which needs fixing as it hasn't budged since I've moved and I do have the night charge meter on my account. Then I can program my washing machine/dryers to run at that time. Hopefully the energy suppliers will fix this.

 

[baldelectrician]

You don't seem to have true E7 as the second meter is not moving

The set up looks like a seperate meter for storage heaters

Normal E7 has one meter with 2 rates, you need to contact Octopus and tell them your meter is not working.
They are as slow as a week in jail to come out to standard meter issues, you should tell them you have no power for your off peak.

 

[marconi]

I am with baldelectrician on this. The installation is not configured for economy 7 and as a result you are paying more than you might albeit the supplier is at the moment accurately charging you for the electricity you use at the prevailing peak rate per kWh.

I reckon the flat once had electric storage heaters controlled by an off peak tariff timeswitch and using the top left pale yellow MEM fusebox. The supply for these heaters was via the meter which now reads 91444 and does not now clock up.

What I think has happened it the landlord has removed the storage heaters - true? - and replaced by wet radiators, and electric potterton boiler and timeswitch controlled circulation pump. What is causing you high bills is - I think - that this is all powered now from the day rate meter and thus charged at day rates all the time.

Furthermore, even though you may have signed up to an E7 tariff - check your bill - you cannot benefit from it for space and water heating nor any other off peak electrical consumption such overnight washing and drying because there is no way to measure the off-peak usage because all your electricity is passing through the one single rate meter - the one that is actually turning. This meter does not 'know' the time of day nor have a way to separately record peak and off peak consumption.

Could you do some trials for me please? Have a torch because the electricity will be turned off briefly.

1. Observe the meter which turns. Then turn the room thermostat up to maximum and ensure the Potterton is turned on so it will heat the water for the radiators. Does the meter start to spin very quickly? Wait 5 minutes to allow the Potterton to respond to the flow of cold water. Just check the other meter does not turn.

2. Turn a light on. Now turn the white Wylex switch with the brown and blue levers off by pushing downwards - might be hard to do. Does this light go off and the Potterton too at the same time? Has the meter stop spinning? Now turn the wylex on again. The light should come on and the meter should be spinning quickly.

3. Turn the thermostat to minimum. Wait for the meter to stop spinning quickly. Now fill up the kettle with water. Ask someone to observe both meters as you turn the kettle on for 20 seconds and then off. I expect you will see the one meter spin up while the kettle is on - the one which spins for para 1 above.

I hope this makes sense.

We will also need to find out the sizes of the main fuse and cabling to the meter to confirm they can handle the potterton and other loads which are on at the same time.

I have sent you a Private Message with my mobile number if you want to call me. If I do not answer send me a text and I will respond.

PS: The solution by the way is to scrap both meters and have a smart meter fitted. And then to research electricity tariffs which have off peak periods. Apart from overnight economy 7, there are other suppliers/tariffs which give cheaper rate electricity for everything during defined time slots during the week day and weekends. eg Economy 10.

See:

Economy 10 tariff and meters explained | UK Energy Support - https://ukenergysupport.co.uk/economy-10-tariff/#:~:text=If%20you%20live%20a%20busy,evening%20or%20during%20the%20night.&text=It%20is%20also%20the%20best,rather%20than%20gas%20heating%20systems.

 

[marconi]

Please take close up pictures of the potterton as I have circled in yellow in the attachment.

 

[sanasanasana]

There you go, thank you.
Taken photos

 

[marconi]

There you go, thank you.
Taken photos

I wanted to confirm the power of the Potterton because there are some models with lower power than 12kW.

 

[marconi]

Have I confused you or worse frightened you away? The tests I described may quickly decide your question.